


pain and gain

by nobodysusername



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, some feel good nonsense before friday's game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 19:17:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6672109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobodysusername/pseuds/nobodysusername
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyler stays silent for a beat, two, then admits, “I should be there with you guys.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	pain and gain

**Author's Note:**

> i don't own anything, all of this is fiction (pretty much), & if ur reading this seguin or benn i am Sorry big time

Tyler’s hurting, Jamie realizes belatedly. He can hear it in his friend’s voice, the quiet tone of it, and the absence of laughter.

They’re on the phone, Jamie packing his shit in the hotel room and Tyler, Jamie conjectures, at his own place in Dallas. They’d been playing phone tag since the big win, and things have finally come together amid the chaos of getting ready to head home for the first game against the Blues.

Jamie feels warm, a little drunk on the dregs (more accurately, half the bottle) of the hotel’s complimentary champagne and made drunker by Tyler’s praise in his ear, muffled and genuine. Jamie doesn’t dare think about the latter.

There’s a lull in the banter, and he can hear Tyler’s quiet sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Jamie prods, made bold by the champagne and the heat in his chest.

Tyler stays silent for a beat, two, then admits, “I should be there with you guys.”

Jamie doesn’t argue, because Tyler’s right. And selfishly, Jamie thinks about how badly he needs Tyler by his side. The press is only getting pushier, and Jamie’s lost without the guiding charisma of Tyler acting as a beacon for journalists and media, drawing them away from Jamie.

Not to mention the fact that Tyler is the golden boy of the Stars, stolen right from the northeast’s best.

The silence stretches again, pregnant with possible directions, until Jamie answers: “You’ll be with us when we get the Cup. You’ll be the edge that gets us there.”

He hopes it’s the right thing to say, fears that it isn’t. Tyler doesn’t respond immediately, but after a second he hears Tyler huff a breath that could be a laugh. “Either you want to give me anxiety, or you want to feed my ego. Dunno what’s worse.”

Jamie grins at that. “Nah,” he replies easily. “Your ego can’t get much bigger, and I know you don’t choke on the ice. Guess you’re stuck taking a compliment, plain as that.”

Jamie tosses the final miscellaneous items into his duffel and zips it shut, listening for Tyler.

He expects some ribbing, but instead receives from Tyler an earnest admission: “I miss you.”

Jamie bites his lip, because they’ve said it before, bros and all, but this holds a different weight.

“I miss you too,” he admits. “Want you with me on the ice more than ever.” He exhales. “But, you know, just keep rehabbing the injury. Don’t push too hard just because you think we’re waiting on you. With or without our star player, we’ll put up a fight—we’re all Stars, right?”

Tyler’s quiet for a moment but then he laughs. “Jamie, that last bit was disgusting. ‘We’re all Stars,’ fuck’s sake.”

Jamie flushes, but he’s grinning. “You put up with me, though.”

“I do,” Tyler answers solemnly. “Jordie owes me major babysitting bucks.”

The hurt isn’t as easy to pluck out among the threads of expression in Tyler’s tone, but Jamie can tell it’s not completely gone. Probably won’t be until Tyler’s back on ice with his team, until they’re piled on each other because they’re bringing the motherfucking Cup to Texas.

“Hey,” Jamie says softly.

“Hey,” Tyler answers, equally hushed.

“Thanks for sticking with me, for getting us here.”

Tyler makes a sound, dismissive. “Man, you’re our captain. You led us where we wanted to be. And everyone pulled their weight. That’s what got us here, not me.”

Jamie doesn’t completely buy that, but he knows to give credit where it’s due. “Yeah, the boys really know their shit this year,” he laughs. “They really want it.” They always do, of course. Jamie always does, that’s never changed.

There’s something else that Jamie wants, and that might not change, either.

“Lot of silences during this call, should I be worried? Did you start thinking on your own or something?”

“Eh, fuck you,” Jamie dismisses, but he’s suppressing a smile. Tyler always makes him smile. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Hopefully on the ice,” Tyler says.

Jamie hums a noncommittal agreement. “But only if you’re ready.”

“I’m ready, are you?” Tyler says it teasingly, but Jamie wonders if they’ve stopped talking about hockey and he’d missed the transition.

“Yeah,” he says, a little breathless for no reason. He can hear Tyler breathing on the other side of the connection.

“Well, good,” Tyler says, “because once we’re together again, there’s no stopping us.”

Jamie grins. “You know it.”


End file.
